Under the Maroon
by EinsamerWolf328
Summary: Simmons is the geeky member of Red Army. But what else lies under that maroon armor.
1. Chapter 1

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs Blue.**

(**)

It was silent on the compound. The only sounds that could be heard were the sobs and giggles that the twins had playing on a loop with their helmets.

"It's quiet," the Red Demo Man spoke up. "Too quiet."

"Shut up, Roberts! Stop saying that!" The Insurrectionist Leader ordered.

"Fine."

"This better be worth the trouble," the Female Soldier said. "What the hell are we looking for, anyway."

"Some alien artifact. That's all we could get. This UNSC company recently retrieved it from a crashed Covenant cruiser." He then turned to the Sniper, who had climbed onto a near-by roof. "Hey, Foster. You see anything?"

"Nothing, sir. Just a bunch of ruins."

"Alright, let's see." He switched on his radio. "Simmons? Simmons, come in."

"_Yes, Boss? What is it?"_ Simmons answered.

"You see any enemies?"

"_Of course, I do. Most of them are gathered around the central building. There are some patrols out."_

"Any of those near us?"

"_Uh, no."_

"So, we're clear."

"_Clear as pepsi. _Crystal _pepsi."_

"Ugh, that shit's nasty."

"_I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."_

"Whatever," he said, switching off his radio and turning to his team. "We're clear. Twins, you go in front. Parker," he turned to the Flame Soldier, "you cover our back." Parker nodded and went to the back of the group. "Foster, you stay on the lookout for enemies."

"Understood, sir."

"Alright, let's move."

(**)

"What do you think they're keeping in there?" a soldier asked another, motioning towards the central building.

"The artifact, Johnson."

"I know that. What do you think it is?"

"The fuck do I know?"

"Can't you at least guess?"

"No, I can't. Because I don't care."

Johnson was about to speak up, but was interrupted by the sound of giggling and sobbing. "The fuck is that?"

"I don't know."

The two grabbed their rifles and pointed them in the direction the sounds were coming from. Suddenly, two huge soldiers carrying turrets. They both wore ODST helmets, one with a smiley face painted on it, one with a frowney face.

"What the..." Johnson started before being cut short by the turret bullets tearing through him.

The other soldiers also became aware of the attackers and engaged them. However, their bullets ricocheted off the Twins as their turrets tore through their lines.

A few soldiers tried to take them out with rocket launchers, but were killed by sniper and battle rifle shots.

One sniper was aiming for Smiley's head, but a tomahawk came flying through the air and dug itself in his chest, knocking him from his position.

Some soldiers had gotten into warthogs and used their turrets to fire at the Twins, driving them back. They started driving around to avoid being shot by the sniper.

However, the Sleeveless Soldier jumped onto one of the warthogs, shooting the shotgun driver in the head and turning to the guy on the turret, to be faced with the spinning barrels of the turret. The soldier was about to shoot the Sleeveless Soldier, but got three battle rifle bullets in the back of his head, making him drop from the vehicle. The Sleeveless Soldier looked up to see Simmons standing on a roof and firing into the crowd. He then turned to the driver, shot him in the head and jumped off the crashing jeep. He looked around to see two soldiers getting their throats slit simultaneously by the Female Soldier, another soldier getting his chest blown away by Roberts' shotgun and a group of soldiers being torched by Parker.

Then all the UNSC soldiers were dead. The Leader walked up to the main building. "Locked. Of course." He turned to his men. "Simmons. Can you open this?"

Simmons walked up and checked the door. "Oh please, this isn't even a real lock. They probably just improvised this thing."

"So, you can open it?"

Simmons just looked at the Leader for a moment, then turned back to the lock. "Give me thirty seconds...Done," he said as the door opened.

"Alright, go on in. Snyder, West." He turned towards the Female and the Sleeveless Soldiers. "Cover him." They nodded as they followed him in. "The rest of you stay out here and tell us if something happens." With that, he also went in.

It was pitch-black in the building. Even the flashlights attached to their helmets could barely help. "Well, great. How the hell are we...wait, Simmons?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Your helmet has a special visor, right? With night vision?"  
"Oh, right. Uh, hang on a sec. Let's see. Ah there we go," he said as he turned night vision on. "Oh, fuck!"

"What? What is it?" Snyder asked.

"I don't know," Simmons answered. "I-it's pink. I think."

"What?"

That's when they heard a noise. Something they had never heard before. "I...think that's the artifact," Simmons said as an Engineer popped up in front of them.

The four soldiers just stared at the alien floating in between them. "So," the Leader finally spoke up. "It's an alien. A living, breathing alien. That's unexpected."

"What should we do with it?" Snyder asked.

"I suppose we take it with us."

"How?"

"Uh, I think I know how," Simmons spoke up, vanishing into the darkness. He then came back with what seemed to be a sarcophagus. "This thing could easily fit that...that. Plus, it has a very effective lock. Just get it in here and I'll lock it."

"Okay." The three soldiers then cautiously guided the alien into the sarcophagus and Simmons closed the lid.

"You guys can go on outside. It'll take me a while to get this done."

The three nodded as they exited the building. The Leader switched on his radio. "Hello, Staff of Charon. This is Drake. The package is secured. Send in a pelican."

"_Roger that, Drake. Pelican is on it's way."_

(**)

_That was a great victory. The alien had a lot of valuable information. Information that had helped us gain the upper hand against both the UNSC and the Covenant for a short while, until the Freelancers had stolen it. Parker died trying to protect it and Roberts lost an arm. I was on a mission at the time, so I couldn't help them. Then there was the attack on the shipyards. The Freelancers killed Foster and the Twins, and apparently Drake's Freelancer girlfriend as well. Plus, Roberts lost his other arm as well. Instead of staying with them, I was sent to infiltrate the Freelancer program. I was stuck in some backwater canyon. My superior was an idiot, but he seemed to respond well to my fake ass-kissing. Then there was Grif. What a lazy and incompetent ass. And with Lopez, I even saw myself forced to pretend not being able speak Spanish. And Donut. He's...just...Donut._

_When I heard that Drake, our Leader, had been killed by an idiotic jerk in the body of a floating ball, a floating ball, I just couldn't believe it. He was a good soldier and a good leader. And he was killed by a...no, I'm not gonna think about that anymore. _

_The Insurrectionists were my comrades. My friends. Nobody could ever replace them. And these idiots..._

"Grif! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't take a nap on the warthog?!"

_These idiots..._

"Sarge, you can yell at me all you want, I'm still not gonna listen to you."

"Simmons! Get out here, ASAP."

_These idiots could never replace them._

Simmons exited the base and walked over to the other Reds. "Simmons, I need to bury Grif!"

"But I'm not dead."

"No, if you were, I would just leave you here to rot! This way, you'll die the way you lived. Laying on your lazy ass!"

_But they are as close as anyone could ever get._


	2. Chapter 2

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs Blue.**

**This was intended as a one-shot, but upon popular demand(one review), I've decided to continue it and see how it goes.**

**Just so there's no confusion: Insurrectionist Leader- Drake**

**Sleeveless Insurrectionist- West**

**Red Demo Man- Roberts**

**Female Insurrectionist- Snyder**

**Insurrectionist Sniper- Foster**

**Flame Soldier- Parker**

(**)

The pelican eventually arrived and picked them up. Drakewas up front with the pilot. On the right-hand side sat, from front to back: West, Foster, Simmons and Frowney. On the other side sat: Roberts, Snyder, Parker and Smiley. The sarcophagus stood in the middle.

Suddenly, the radio switched on in Drake's helmet. _„Drake, Commander Duke wishes to speak with you."_

„Understood, put him through."

„_Drake,"_ a male voice with an irish accent spoke up, _„I hear the mission was a success."_

„Yes, sir. Package has been secured. But it's... a little different than what we expected."

„_Define „different"."_

„Well, it's, uh... it's alive."

There was a short silence on the radio. _"It's an alien?"_

"Yes, sir."

"_A living alien? That's willing to cooperate?"_

"I guess. It hasn't acted hostile so far."

"_We will take the necessary precautions. But if it is cooperative, this would be quite the asset. However, we have been receiving lots of UNSC banter. Seems like you stirred up the hive. Be careful. Make sure that the asset does not fall into enemy hands!"_

"Yes, sir." The radio switched off and he turned to the pilot. "How much longer until we reach the Charon?"

"Ten minutes, tops."

"Alright, just make sure that nobody else notices us."

"Uhh, I think it might be too late for that."

"What?"

Two pelicans had started tailing theirs and opened fire. "Could you get those things off my tail?" the pilot shouted.

"Alright, Twins. Shoot those birds out of the sky."

With a sob and a giggle, the twins got up and opened fire on there pursuers. As one pelican dodged Frowney's shots, it fired at them, hitting the pelican so that it tilted. Frowney started sliding towards the opening. Just as Frowney was about to slip out, Simmons jumped. "Hang on, I got you," he shouted as he grabbed Frowney's arm. Just as he managed to pull Frowney back in the pelican safely, the pelican shook violently, sending Simmons flying towards the opening. Frowney, in turn, grabbed his arm, so that the two were now practically dangling out of the back. "Ah, jeez. Thanks," he said, looking up to see Frowney starting to slip. "No. Frowney, let go!" Frowney shook it's head and sobbed. "Don't be a hero! You're won't be helping anyone by falling out with me." Again, Frowney just shook it's head. "Goddam- wait." He looked at something. "A mountains coming up. We can jump down it. Just hold on." Frowney nodded. After a moment, Simmons shouted. "Now!" Frowney jumped out of the pelican with Simmons, landing on the snow covered mountain and rolling down it.

"What?" Drake shouted. "Where did they go?"

Foster looked over the edge. "They jumped on the mountain."

"Great. So now I can add missing teammates to my list of problems." He turned to the pilot. "Please tell me you can get us to the Charon."

"I get you to the Charon."

"Good."

"...if we lose some weight."

"What?!"

"The pelican's received some damage. If I didn't have to outrun two pelicans, I could get us all there, but as is..."

"Got it, how much?"

"Well, that big box there weighs the most. Dropping that should give us an advantage."

"No can do. That has to reach the Charon."

"Then you're going to have to drop your team."

Drake looked back at his team, who all nodded. "Alright. Let's make this quick."

"There's a mountain up ahead. They can jump onto that."

"Okay, get ready." The soldiers went to the end of the pelican. "On my mark," Drake said as he watched for the mountain. They moment they flew over it... "Now!"

The soldiers jumped out of the pelican and the pilot immediately hit the turbo while closing up the back. The other two pelicans continued to follow and shoot at them, but thanks to the recent weight loss, they could easily dodge the shots. However, the other pelicans were starting to catch up and it became harder to dodge their shots.

That's when the Staff of Charon broke through the clouds above them and shot their pursuers down.

The pelican slowed down and went for one of the docking bays. It landed and opened up, allowing a group of soldiers to come in and unload the sarcophagus. Then a man in steel colored armor with maroon detail entered the pelican. He had short graying blonde hair, a short beard and green eyes. "Drake."

"Commander Duke." Drake saluted.

"What happened to your team?"

"We needed to drop them in order to get the package here. I was just about to tell this guy to take me back down there."

"Negative, Drake. The zone is hot. Sending a pelican down there would reckless."

"So you want me to just leave them?"

"Of course not. We need to fight off the UNSC cruiser and secure the area. I'm confident that they can hold out until then."

"But sir..."

"That is an order, Drake. Your men will be fine for the time being. First we take down the cruiser, then we get them. Understood?!"

"...Yes, sir."

"Good." Duke left the pelican and turned on his radio. "Prepare the ship for combat. We must take down that cruiser. And fast!" He switched it off and looked out of the closing hangar door. "I'm not leaving them behind."

(**)

**There. Please R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Red vs Blue.**

(**)

Foster watched through his rifle's scope as pelicans landed enemy troops all around them. "Holy crap. How many men do these guys have?"

"This is troubling," Snyder agreed. "Do you think they're landing as many troops where Simmons and Frowney dropped?"

"Probably," Roberts answered.

"I hope they're okay."

"Hey, c'mon. It's our smartest teammate and one of our turret twins. How bad could it be?"

(**)

On the other side of the mountains, the wind was full with the sounds of gunshots and Simmons' screams. "Oh god, oh god, oh god. There are so many of them!" He ran around and randomly shot into the groups of enemies that surrounded them. Frowney just sobbed in response and continued firing at the soldiers. "There's no way we can win this. There's no end to them." He looked around and spotted a cave behind a huge group of enemies. "Hmm." He looked on and got an idea. He grabbed his rocket launcher and fired. He and the enemies watched as the rocket flew past the group and instead landed above them.

"Ha!" shouted a cocky soldier. "Missed!" Then the ground shook lightly. He looked up to see an avalanche rolling towards his group. "Son of a-" before he could finish, the avalanche swallowed him and his men.

"Quickly, now! Let's retreat!" Simmons yelled as he started climbing the small mountain of snow, with Frowney following him and giving him covering fire. Simmons reached the cave and entered. After having ran a few meters, he turned and watched as Frowney slowly caught up with him while holding the enemies off. When Frowney was next to him, he aimed his rocket launcher at the roof above the entrance and fired. The two watched as the ensuing cave-in closed them off from the outside. When he was sure that they were safe, Simmons sighed. "Thank god. A little peace of quiet." He turned to Frowney. "But we should get moving. Put some distance between us and them."

Frowney nodded with a sob and motioned for Simmons to go ahead. Frowney then followed him and kept the turret pointed at the cave-in.

(**)

"Well, shit," the soldier muttered as he stared at the snow that now covered the cave the Insurrectionists had retreated through. He then had a feeling that someone was behind him, so he quickly turned around to see a soldier in red armor with yellow detail. "Oh, Agent Rhode Island."

"Report, soldier!" the female Freelancer ordered.

"Uh, ma'am, the Insurrectionists retreated through the cave."

Rhode looked around. "What cave?"

"The one under that pile of snow," the soldier said, pointing behind him.

"Anyway of following them?"

"They'll probably be long gone by the time we've dug up the entrance and cleared it."

"Alright. Search the mountains. Look for all cave openings and secure them."

"Yes, ma'am!" The soldier saluted and walked off.

A soldier in yellow armor with brown detail walked up to Rhode. "This isn't good. God knows what the Director will do to us if we don't get the package."

"Calm down, Wisconsin. Our orders are to take out the Insurrectionists. And we'll do that."

"Right." Wisconsin sighed. "I hope Oregon and Massachusetts are doing better."

(**)

A man in cyan armor with pale detail watched as two of his men got taken out with a sniper shot. "Seems like they've got a good sniper, Massachusetts," he said, turning to a soldier in olive armor with peach detail.

"He could have just gotten lucky," Massachusetts replied. The two then watched as three of their men got taken out by one shot. "Maybe not."

"I didn't even know that was possible."

(**)

"Nice shot, Foster," Roberts complimented.

"Thank you," Foster answered, reloading. The two had taken cover behind a few rocks. Foster continued to fire with his sniper rifle while Roberts used a grenade and West had gone into close-quarters combat while Smiley and Parker fired into the troops.

Then a sniper shot ricocheted off of Parker's flamethrower. He followed it's trail and saw that Oregon was aiming at him.

"I got this," Foster shouted, aiming at Oregon, who just barely managed to dodge his shot and dive for cover. "Smiley! Roberts! Smoke 'em out!"

Smiley started firing at the rock while Roberts barraged it with grenades.

Massachusetts charged out, firing his assault rifle at them. Parker followed him with his flamethrower, forcing him to dive behind another rock. Parker continued to fire, heating up the rock. "Oh, crap!" Massachusetts yelled as he ran from the rock and looked for more cover, but then ran into West, who threw a punch at him. Massachusetts dodged and aimed his rifle at West, only to get it knocked out of his hand. West then pulled out his pistol, aimed it at Massachusetts and shot twice. Massachusetts ducked under the shots and caught West with an uppercut. He then kneed him in the gut and threw another punch at him, but West caught the fist and pointed his pistol at him. Massachusetts grabbed his wrist and pointed the pistol upwards.

"Shit," Oregon muttered. He switched his radio on. "This is Agent Oregon. Most of our men are dead. We need back-up! Repeat, we need back-up!"

"_Negative, Agent Oregon. We cannot spare any more troops."_

"Then evacuate us! We need evacuation!"

"_Understood, Agent. A pelican is on it's way. Should be with you any moment."_

"Okay." Oregon looked through his scope and could already see the pelican coming. He looked back at the battlefield to see that he and Massachusetts were the only survivors.

Massachusetts struggled with West, who pushed him down. West then grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Massachusetts tried to fight back, but West shot him in the chest multiple times, and then shot him in the head.

Oregon cursed as he rushed towards the pelican and jumped in. The pelican took off and quickly flew from sight as the Insurrectionists just looked after it.

"Takes care of that problem," Roberts said.

"Yeah," Snyder nodded. "Now we just need to boy ourselves in and hope that Drake comes before they send more guys." She then noticed Smiley looking towards a mountain. "Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine." Smiley looked at her for a moment, then nodded with a giggle before they went to help the other soldiers with gathering ammo and other supplies from the dead soldiers.

(**)

Oregon walked up to the pilot. "Sir, Agent New Mexico is calling."

Oregon sighed. "Put her through. Ma'am? Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am, the mission was a failure. Agent Massachusetts is dead. Yes, I'm the only survivor. Understood. Heading back now."

(**)

Simmons cautiously walked through the tunnel. Even his knight vision barely helped in this darkness. He then heard a sob followed by something hitting against the floor. He looked back to see Frowney kneeling. He walked back. "Frowney. Are you okay?"

Frowney nodded and got up.

"You sure? Because I'm sure we've covered enough ground. We could take a short rest." Frowney just shook it's head and continued onwards.

"Fine, if you insist." With that, he walked up next to Frowney as they continued through the mountain.


	4. Chapter 4

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Red vs Blue.**

(**)

„TURN AROUND!" Oregon yelled at the pilot.

"Sir?"

"What? Are you deaf?! Turn the damn thing around before they discover us!" Oregon ordered, referring to the Staff of Charon, which had opened fire on their ship.

"What about Agent New Mexico?"

"You wanna go in and get shot down, be my guest. But open the latch so I can jump off."

The pilot pondered that for a bit, then nodded and turned around. "Where to?"

"Home in on Rhode's position."

(**)

"Yes, launch the missiles! Fire the MAC cannons! Give 'em everything we got! Blow that Freelancer scum out of the sky!" Duke ordered in his destructive glee as he watched the enemy ship burn. It was easy. They'd used the mountains as a cover and caught them by surprise. Before they even knew what was going on, they had taken down their shields and were shooting holes into the hull.

The ship started turning towards them to return fire, but instead turned away again and tried retreating, but flew against a mountain, ripping it's hull apart. Duke watched as it fell towards the ground and sighed in happily.

Drake just shook his head. "You know, with the way you usually behave, I forget how excited you get during combat."

"It is incredibly satisfying to take down a UNSC ship, lad. You know that."

He did. While Drake didn't like the UNSC, Commander Duke downright hated them. He doesn't know why, he just knows that Duke has some sick obsession with the SPARTAN program.

"So, we can go get them now?"

"Aye, lad. This is Commander Duke, calling Roberts and Simmons. Come in."

"_This is Roberts," _Roberts spoke up over the radio.

"Status report!"

"_Everything okay, sir. We're clear and ready for pick-up."_

"Roger that. Any word from Simmons?"

"_No, sir. Haven't heard from him since the drop."_

"Understood. A pelican is on it's way to you." He switched off the radio.

(**)

Simmons ran out of the cave. "Thank god. I thought we would never make it. Feels like we've been in there forever."

Frowney sobbed.

"I know it's only been an hour. Still feels like forever."

Frowney sobbed.

Then Simmons heard something. "Get down!" he said, pushing Frowney down. They then sneaked towards a ledge and saw a patrol of UNSC soldiers. "They must have been deployed to look for us. Let's see, if we caught them by surprise..." he then felt that Frowney was too close to him. "Do you mind?"

Frowney then backed off with a sob.

"Alright. They're about to come up here. I'll take the ones in the back out with precision shots while you mow down the ones in the front. Got it?"

Frowney nodded with a sob.

They went into position, Simmons behind a rock and Frowney in front of the cave, and waited. The soldiers then came into sight and opened fire when they spotted Frowney, who returned fire and quickly took out the head of the group. Some went into cover while others tried to retreat. The latter ones were quickly dispatched by Simmons. The three remaining soldiers dove into a small trench and fired at Frowney. Frowney then suddenly stopped firing and fell on one knee. In the continued fire from the UNSC soldiers, a bullet pierced Frowney's right soldier, making Frowney fall.

"NO!" Simmons yelled, throwing a grenade into the trench. The soldiers panicked and tried to throw it back, but failed. Simmons heard the explosion as he ran back to Frowney. "Fuck! Frowney, I knew it! You should have rested!" Frowney sobbed. I have to bandage this!" He said, grabbing Frowney's arm, resulting in a pained sob. "Sorry." That brought him an accusing sob. "I don't what I'm doing here, I'm not a medic," Simmons frantically yelled. Frowney then started shaking and breathed quicker. "Are you hyperventilating? Oh crap. Listen, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just lay down." Frowney did. Simmons checked the shoulder. "Okay, the bullet went right through, so I just have to bandage it up." Frowney sobbed. "Don't worry. It's easy. I just need you to take off your armor."

Frowney shook it's head with a sob.

"Oh, so now you wanna get complicated?"

Frowney nodded.

"The way I see it, you have three options. Take off your armor, bleed to death or die of infection."

Frowney pondered that and sobbed. It then pulled off it's helmet to reveal a beautiful woman with pale skin, dark brown eyes and long ebony hair framing her face. "Happy now?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. Now, if you would please take off the rest." She looked at him. "Don't give me that look. Just take off your chest and shoulder piece." She obliged.

Simmons took another look at her shoulder-wound, then pulled out some bandages and bandaged it up. "That should suffice for now." They then heard something and looked up to see multiple UNSC pelicans flying towards their location. "Crap. The guys from before must have called them." Frowney immediately went for her turret, but Simmons stopped her. "No, your exhausted and wounded. You can't fight."

"You have got to be kidding me. You can't hold them all off by yourself. You need me."

"Perhaps, but you can't fight. C'mon, put on your armor and get up. I need to get you into the cave."

"Simmons..."

"Frowney! We don't have much time. Get in the cave!"

After a moment of thinking, she nodded and got up. Simmons helped her up and into the cave. He then came back out and took position.

Three pelicans landed, bringing in about fifty men plus Agents Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Oregon.

Simmons checked his equipment. He still had two rockets, one frag grenade, two plasma grenades, two spike grenades and two magazines for his battle rifle, which still had 24 rounds left in it.

He waited for them to come closer, then pulled out the frag grenade and tossed it. It exploded just as it landed and took out half a dozen soldiers. As the enemies regrouped, he pulled out his rocket launcher and fired. Each rocket took out about ten soldiers. _Good. One half down, one to go._ He went into cover as the remaining soldiers opened fire. _Okay, at this rate, they should be reloading right about..._ The firing decreased. Simmons jumped out and fired, taking out three guys. He ran around, dodging their shots and returning fire, killing about half a dozen guys. He then grabbed a nearby soldier and used him as a shield while reloading. He stuck a plasma grenade onto his hostage and pushed him into a group of soldiers, killing another five guys. _Only ten more._ One of them through a grenade at him, so he jumped away. While rolling back onto his legs, he grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at the soldier. The snow stuck to his visor.

"Oh crap, I can't see," the soldier yelled. In his panic, he started firing. Simmons ducked under the bullets, ran up to the soldier and spun him around, making him shoot at his own men, killing three of them. Using the soldier as a shield, he took down the rest of the soldiers and then shot his hostage in the head.

As the body fell to the ground, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Oregon took up fighting stances.

_One plasma grenade, two spike grenades, one magazine and six rounds left._

The three charged towards him. Rhode Island jumped up while the other two continued towards him. Oregon through a punch, but Simmons ducked under it, then grabbed the fist that Wisconsin threw at him and threw him into Oregon just in time to catch Rhode Island as she tried to jump-kick him, then slammed both of them against the ground.

Simmons quickly got up and blocked a kick by Wisconsin and dodged a punch by Oregon. He then kneed Oregon in the gut and threw him to the ground. After exchanging a few punches with Wisconsin, Simmons managed to punch him in the face and put him in Rhode Island's way, making her knock him to the ground.

Simmons and Rhode circled each other while Wisconsin and Oregon slowly got back up.

"Alright, buddy," Rhode started, "time to end this." With that, the three charged him and he jumped back. He then ran at them and punched Oregon in the visor, caught a punch from Rhode, twisted her arm and knocked her down with a punch in the back of the head.

He caught a kick by Wisconsin, flipped him over, stuck a spike grenade on his crotch and kicked him away. Wisconsin quickly scrambled to his feet and tried to pull it off, but it exploded and killed him.

Simmons started panting and looked back at Rhode and Oregon, who had gotten back up. "You bastard," Rhode said, angrily. "You won't be able to do that again."

"I don't know," Simmons said between breaths. "I'd say the odds aren't too bad."

That's when they heard another pelican approaching. They watched as it landed and twenty more UNSC soldiers came out, followed by a soldier in coral colored recon armor with mauve detail who walked over to the Freelancers. "Agent Rhode Island! Agent Oregon! Report!"

"Ma'am, we've caught this Insurrectionist," Oregon answered.

Agent New Mexico looked around at all the dead bodies. "This "one" Insurrectionist managed to kill 50 men and one Freelancer?"

"Ah, yes ma'am." Oregon said, looking down.

New Mexico walked up to Simmons. "You are gonna answer a few questions."

"I highly doubt that."

"Hey, listen, punk," Oregon spoke up, "if she says that you're gonna answer her questions, you'll be answering her..." He was interrupted by a sniper bullet going through his head. As his body fell to the ground, everybody looked up at the pelican flying backwards towards them. The latch was open, revealing Foster and Smiley aiming their weapons at them. Foster quickly unloaded the remaining three rounds, killing three guys. Smiley then opened fire and quickly cut down the remaining troops.

The rest of the Insurrectionists got out of the pelican as the Freelancers ran off to cover. Drake walked up to Simmons. "You alright? Where's Frowney?"

"Up there in the cave. She took a round to the shoulder. I'm fine. Just a little exhausted."

"That's alright. Go up to Frowney and let us handle this. Smiley, you go with him."

Smiley nodded with a giggle and followed Simmons.

The rest then focused on the boulder Rhode Island and New Mexico were hiding behind.

"Hey, assholes!" Drake yelled. "Surrender immediately and we might contemplate letting you live!"

As a response, the Freelancers tossed a grenade at them. Roberts jumped towards it, grabbed it and threw it back. It exploded in the air.

"Nice try!" Drake yelled. "Snyder! Roberts! Take 'em out!"

The two charged in. Snyder ran up the boulder and jumped over it while Roberts ran around it. Snyder pulled out her knives and started slashing at the two Freelancers. The two engaged her, but then Roberts came and fired his shotgun at Rhode, who ducked and engaged him instead. She grabbed his shotgun and pointed it upwards as he fired and then punched him in the stomach. He tried to fire his shotgun again, but she pointed it to the left, so he used it to knock her against the boulder instead and then headbutted her. He cocked his shotgun and aimed it at her, but was knocked down by New Mexico, who then went back to fighting Snyder.

Roberts slowly got up and shook his head. He then looked up to see Rhode pull out a grenade and throw it at him. He caught the grenade and threw it at her, hitting her head. She fell to the ground as the grenade flew straight up, then fell and landed on her. Roberts quickly dashed around the boulder to safety, as did New Mexico and Snyder. The explosion made the boulder shake. Snyder looked at the boulder and then turned to New Mexico. "You're all alone and out in the open. You've lost. Give up, bitch."

"Forget it. I would rather die than..." Before she could finish, Snyder pulled out a pistol and shot her in the head.

"Thanks for the suggestion," Snyder said as New Mexico's body fell to the ground.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Roberts said, walking up to Snyder.

Snyder laughed. "Yeah. So these were the infamous Freelancers. Not very impressive."

"That's because these were low-ranking Freelancers," Drake said. "According to Connie, this was Agent New Mexico. She was number 11 on their Leaderboard."

"That's nice," Snyder said sarcastically.

"Anyway, gather up the Freelancers! Their armor could be useful."

They did that. As they regrouped at the pelican, Simmons came with Frowney's left arm around him with Smiley following them. They climbed in last and Simmons carefully sat Frowney down and sat himself down next to her.

"Alright, all on board. Get us to the Charon," Drake told the pilot.

"Yes, sir," the pilot answered, starting up the pelican.

(**)

"_Director. A message from the Chairman,_" FILSS said.

The Director sighed. "Put him through."

"_Dear Director. I would like to discuss the outcome of the last mission. As you are aware, due to the importance of the mission, we granted you special resources. The UNSC cruiser "Heart of Gold" including a full crew of over 1000 UNSC staff. And according to your report, not only did you lose the _loaned _assets, but also four of your own agents. Not only did this catastrophe cost us millions, but may have even given our enemies an advantage. With the Covenant gaining ground, we cannot afford to lose ground to the Insurrection."_

"I understand, Chairman."

"_Good. Then you understand that you will be held responsible for this failure and any further failure that can be traced back to it. You are expected to retrieve the asset and take down the Insurrection. I'll be looking forward to it, dear Director."_

With that, the connection was cut off.

The Director looked down. "This was a major setback," he told the Counselor. "We'll have to make up for it."

"Should we increase training intensity?"

"I doubt that will be sufficient. I think it's time to activate the Beta."

"Sir, are you sure?"

"Yes. Do it!"

"Understood."

(**)

"Excellent work, lads," Duke congratulated his men. "This is a major victory. It will bring us closer to taking down the UNSC. This is a cause for celebration. So feel free to take a few days off. That will be all." They started walking away. "Simmons. I need to talk to you."

"Of course, sir," Simmons said, walking back to him.

"Listen, Simmons. We haven't gotten much from the Freelancers yet, but what we did get is interesting."

"What did we get?"

"A possible way of infiltrating the Freelancer program. They have built up two forces of simulation soldiers in order to test their agents' abilities. These forces are made up of the worst soldiers of the UNSC. So, if we were to, I don't know, send someone in with a few fake test results and a fake record, I highly doubt they would go through the trouble of double-checking."

"So, you want me to infiltrate the program?"

"Aye, lad. Eventually, we'll have gathered enough information to get you in. And once we do, you'll have to pretend like you're completely incompetent. No combat abilities and only moderate intelligence."

"Can I at least act geeky?"

"If you want. But for now, just relax and enjoy the spoils of your work."

"Yes, sir," Simmons said, walking off.

Duke then turned around and walked up to a console. He activated it and called up the results of the Engineer analysis. He then slid it aside and called up the information he had gathered on the SPARTAN program. He clicked on a folder and a bunch of pictures and files of Dr. Halsey showed up on the screen.

Hatred and rage sparked in his eyes. "One day, you bitch. One day."

(**)

**And there it is. Please R&R. Hope you enjoyed the read.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own Red vs Blue.**

(**)

Simmons stepped out of the pelican and looked around at the canyon.

_Flashback_

"_What is it called?" Simmons asked._

"_Bloodgulch," Duke answered. "According to our sources, the Freelancer program is breaking apart. They sent something very important to the program there, along with a Freelancer to protect it."_

"_What else do we know?"_

"_That's pretty much it. We don't know what it is or who the Freelancer is."_

"_So, I'm supposed to figure it our myself and then retrieve it?"_

"_No."_

"_What?"_

"_Your objective is to gather information. Everything you can find on Project Freelancer. Phase 2 of your mission begins when you receive Code Yellow."_

_Flashback end_

"I can see why they would send something important here. Nobody would ever suspect it." His new armor felt a bit weird, but he liked the color. He walked toward Red base, where he saw an orange soldier. "Excuse me."

"Oh shit. Sarge, I was just about to do it, but...Oh, you're not Sarge. Who are you?"

"Uh, I'm Private Dick Simmons. I'm looking for Staff Sergeant "Sarge". Is that his real name?"

"Apparently."

"Right. Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you guys report in?"

"He does."

"Uhuh."

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go hide in a cave so I can take a nap."

"Right." The orange soldier walked off. Simmons stood in silence for a moment. "Wow. The Commander wasn't kidding when he said the simulation soldiers were composed of the worst soldiers of the UNSC."

Then a soldier in red armor ran up. "Grif! Damn it, Grif! Front and center, dirtbag!" He then saw Simmons and walked up to him. "Who are you?"

"Private Dick Simmons. Are you the Sergeant?"

"Yep, that's me. Sarge, war veteran and Grif-hater extraordinaire."

"What's a Grif?"

"A lazy, incompetent, orange dirtbag."

"I suppose you mean the orange soldier I just saw."

"That would be him. Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, he just went into that cave," he said, pointing in the direction Grif had walked off to.

"Excellent. Listen, Simmons. I'm gonna have to punish him, so I want you to go spy on the Blues."

"Understood, sir," Simmons said, walking off.

(**)

"So, do you have girlfriend?"

"Nah. Women have always been pretty hard on me."

"Bow chicka bow wow."

"Stop doing that!"

Simmons watched the blue and cyan soldier bicker through the scope on his battle rifle. "Oh my god. I can feel myself getting stupider just by listening to those two."

A teal soldier walked up to the two. "Now, now, stop fighting. Nothing has ever been accomplished by that."

"Are you kidding me?" Simmons asked himself. "A pacifist soldier? No wonder they sent him here. Or perhaps he's just trying to isolate himself from the other team because he has something to hide." He was going to keep an eye on the teal soldier and see what he could find out. One day, he would be called back to serve the Insurrection. Until then, he'd just have to lay low.

(**)

It was a quiet day in the new canyon. Sarge was chasing Grif around, apparently trying to kill him through exhaustion. Doc and Donut were exchanging recipes and Lopez was repairing the recently destroyed warthog. Caboose had recently returned from some journey and was now building something. Tucker spent most of his time behind some rock and Washington was just patrolling the Blue base.

Simmons was currently working on his computer when his radio switched on. _"Calling Dick Simmons. Calling Dick Simmons. Come in, Dick Simmons."_

"This is Dick Simmons. I read you loud and clear."

"_Code Yellow."_

There was a moment of silence. "Understood." He switched the radio off. "So, the time has come." He exited the base and walked up to Lopez, who was currently working on the warthog. "Hey, Lopez. Are the mongooses fixed?"

"Sí, pero yo no quiero que los utilizan. Usted acaba de romper." (Yes, but I don't want you to use them. You'll just break them.)

"No, I won't," Simmons said, jumping onto a mongoose and driving off.

Lopez was dumbfounded by how Simmons apparently understood him.

"Lopez!" Sarge shouted, walking up to him. "Where is Simmons going?"

"No sé."

"Well then. Guess we'll just have to follow him. Grif! Get over here!"

"What is it?"

"Get in the warthog! We're driving! Lopez, you get on the gun!"

"Okay," Lopez said, climbing onto the back of the jeep. Grif got in the driver's seat and Sarge rode shotgun.

They then turned on the radio and drove off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: Again. I own nothing.**

(**)

_Commander Duke,_

_this is Admiral Harper. According to the data you've retrieved, we stand right before a major breakthrough. If this went public, a majority of humanity would turn against the UNSC. However, the size of this also means that we can't slip up. We need conclusive proof. If you can present irrefutable evidence, you will have our full support. Until then, you will have the Staff of Charon. And I understand that you have already put an operative on the job. I will be looking forward to your report._

(**)

It was a quiet night in the facility. Big headlights were shining on the UNSC logo. Only a few soldiers were on patrol while most others were sleeping.

As two soldiers walked by, Simmons sneaked out of the shadows and quickly dashed forward, jumping into another shadow. When he was certain that nobody could see him, he climbed up the wall and quickly ran inside. He immediately dove for cover when he saw the soldiers in the room. They had their backs turned to him, so they didn't see him. He looked at the door to his right. A bridge was adjacent to it. He then ran over the bridge and hid in the building. He checked his surroundings. There weren't many soldiers. The few that were around weren't exactly focused.

He then saw his target. The main building. A bridge connected it with the building he was currently in.

He decided to walk normally over the bridge. Even if someone did see him, there was practically no light on him and they were probably tired, so they wouldn't care about someone casually strolling across a bridge.

Simmons entered the building and quickly pressed himself against a wall. Security in there was tighter. Lots of soldiers and cameras. He then noticed single soldier coming towards him. He waited, and when the soldier was close enough, he knocked him out and quickly pulled him out onto the bridge and then started exchanging their uniforms.

Now in a UNSC uniform, he could freely walk around the building. After a bit of searching, he found a secluded console, pulled out his hacking tool and went to work on it.

The basic things, like security systems, were easily figured out. The information he wanted had far more protection. Multiple firewalls, viruses and god knows what else. And he only had one shot at this, so he had to get it right.

He took a deep breath and went for it. With every moment that passed, the stress got more intense. His heart kept beating quicker. He started feeling hot. Everything he ever fought for. Everything he'd ever lost. It all came down to this. One mistake, and it was all for nothing. That's when it ended. He was in. All the information stored in this facility was his. Now he just had to download it.

He pulled out a storage device, inserted it into the hacking tool and started downloading.

That's when the alarm went off.

"What the fuck?!" he yelled. "No. No, this can't be. It has to be something else." He then switched on the security screen and switched from camera to camera, desperately looking for some intruder. And he found one. Three, to be exact. Three soldiers in orange, red and brown armor, driving through the facility in a warthog. "You have got to be kidding me." He checked his tool. "Only 2% down. This is gonna take a while. At least those guys are a good distraction."

(**)

"Grif! This is the worst driving I've ever seen!" Sarge yelled into Grif's ear.

"Well, I'm sorry. But it's kinda hard to drive when you are being SHOT at!"

"That excuse is just as lazy as you are. Lopez, get that one!" he said, pointing at a soldier aiming a rocket launcher at them.

"Sí," Lopez responded, turning the turret towards him and shooting him down.

Grif had started driving towards a group of soldiers that were firing at them.

"Stop!" Sarge shouted and Grif hit the brakes. The jeep still ran over the soldiers directly in front of them, but came to a complete stop. A soldier who had jumped aside now looked up to stare right down the barrels of Sarge's shotgun. "Feeling hungry?" Sarge asked. "Have a lead sandwich!" With that, he fired right in the man's face. Then they were suddenly surrounded by soldiers.

"You made me stop for that?" Grif yelled. "Were gonna die now because you wanted a one-liner?"

"Of course, it's all about dedication!"

"Well, I hope your happy. Because of your "dedication", we're gonna die now."

"I just brought up a nice one-liner and now I get to watch you die. This is how I always dreamed I was gonna die."

The soldiers got ready to fire, when suddenly one of their own started knocking them out. While the soldiers were still confused, Lopez opened fire with the turret, Sarge with his shotgun and Grif with his brute shot.

Soon, all soldiers were care of. All but the one that helped them out. That one slowly walked towards them and it wasn't until standard military camouflage turned into greenish blue that they realized who it was.

"Agent Carolina?" Grif spoke up.

"What are you doing here?"

"What?"

"_She said what the fuck are you guys doing here?"_ Epsilon said popping up.

"Well, good to see you, too," Grif said sarcastically. "What's your problem?"  
_"My problem is that this is a top secret facility containing classified information on Project Freelancer and other military operations. It took us months to find it and you guys just happen to stumble across it?"_

"We followed Simmons."

"_What?"_

"Yeah, Simmons just jumped on a motorcycle and drove over here. We just followed him. If you wanna blame someone, blame Simmons."

"Oh, we will," Carolina stated. "Where is he?"

"If we knew, do you think we would be driving and shooting around like maniacs?" Grif asked.

Carolina and Epsilon just looked at him.

Grif sighed. "Yeah, we probably would have."

"Anyway," Carolina started. "Simmons is wearing Freelancer equipment. We can track him through that."

"_Right,"_ Epsilon said. _"Let's see. According to this, he should be up there,"_ he said, pointing to the bridge through which Simmons had entered the main building.

(**)

The group walked up to the body in maroon armor.

"Is he?" Grif asked.

"Yes," Carolina said after checking his vitals.

"Oh, Simmons," Sarge said, sorrowful. "Why?"

"_Wow. Didn't think you'd take it this hard."_ Epsilon said.

"Wait for it," Grif stated.

"Why, Lord? Why couldn't you have taken Grif?"

"There it is."

"He was right here. I presented you many chances to take him, and yet he's still alive. Is it the armor? Do you want me to exchange Grif's armor with Simmons's?"

"What did you just say?" Carolina asked.

"Does god want me to exchange Grif's and Simmons's armor so that he doesn't have to kill an orange guy. Apparently he likes orange people, and has been leading me astray by making me hate orange people. That divine dirtbag."

Carolina thought about what he'd just said, the exchange thing, not the god thing, and suddenly got an idea. She pulled off the helmet. "Is this Simmons?"

"How the hell would we know?" Grif asked. "We never take our helmets off."

"It's not him," Sarge stated.

"You sure?" Carolina asked.

"Positive. This one is all man. Simmons 2.0 is a fully equipped and windows compatible cyborg."

"Then this isn't Simmons."

"_So what? He just managed to sneak to this point and then killed a soldier and exchanged their armor? He's smart, but not that smart." _Epsilon said.

"Perhaps there is more to Simmons then we thought."

"Then he's still alive?" Sarge asked.

"Yes."

"I knew it!"

"_What? You thought he was dead."_

"He doesn't mean that," Grif stated.

"I knew I was right in my orange-hating ways."

"Anyway," Carolina continued. "We gotta find him. I wanna know what he's up to."

(**)

_Download complete_

"About time," Simmons said, removing the hacking tool and removing the storage unit. He looked at it for a moment, then put it away. He had been watching the happenings outside the building, so he was cautious. After he was sure that they weren't around, he quickly made his way to the exit.

"Hold it right there," he heard a female voice say. One he recognized all too well.

"Agent Carolina," he said without turning around.

"Private Simmons," he heard the voice of his former superior. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sarge, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see me like this. You should have just stayed in the canyon."

"I never leave my men for dead. Unless they're Grif."

"Right. You're a good man, sir. So please, just forget about me," he said while making his way to exit again.

"Don't move!" Carolina ordered, aiming her weapon at him. He stopped.

"You really wanna do this?"

"You know something. And I wanna know what it is."

There was a short pause before he jumped backwards into the air, landing right in front of a confused Carolina. Just as she aimed her rifle at him again, he grabbed it and pointed it up, making her shoot the ceiling. He then punched her in the gut and kneed her there, bringing her to her knees. He then knocked her out with a punch to the back of the head.

The other three were completely dumbfounded. "Holy fuck!" Grif exclaimed. "Since when can you do that?"

"I always could," Simmons stated.

"Then why did you never use it to help us?"

"You don't need to know why. You just need to know that it would be better for all of us if you stop following me." With that, he left the building.

"What do we do now?" Grif asked.

"_I'll tell you what we're gonna do," _Epsilon said. _"We're gonna go after him. We're gonna find out what he's doing and if we don't like it, we're gonna stop him."_


	7. Chapter 7

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: You know what. I think I've said it enough times.**

(**)

_Admiral, _

_I am pleased to inform you that Code Yellow is progressing nicely. However, due to an "anomaly" the UNSC is now aware of our operative. No need to worry, rest assured, he is a professional and knows how to get a job done. And once it's done, the UNSC will crumble before us and the SPARTAN program will finally see it's end._

(**)

Sarge walked up to Grif and Carolina. "Lopez is currently checking through the info we took from the facility."

"And the other Blues?" Carolina asked.

"We contacted them. They're on their way."

"_Excellent,"_ Church said.

"It wouldn't be necessary if you guys had just stopped him there," Carolina stated.

"You're seriously giving that crap when you got your ass kicked by him?" Grif asked.

"He surprised me. I didn't think he would be such a good combatant. That won't happen again."

"Oh yeah, first time I've ever heard that excuse."

"Up yours."

(**)

"Bow chicka bow wow," Tucker exclaimed, startling the other two.

"What the hell, Tucker?" Wash yelled. "What was that about?"

"I felt a disturbance in the force."

(**)

"So, what's your big plan for defeating psycho-Simmons?" Grif asked.

"We'll need some information. If we're lucky, the stuff we got from the facility will at least give us a hint as to where he's going." Then Lopez showed. "Ah, Lopez. Did you find anything?"

"Sí."

"Good. What did you find?"

"Wait, you speak Spanish?" Grif asked.

"No, but Epsilon here can translate most human languages. So, what did you find, Lopez?"

"La instalación contiene información sobre el programa SPARTAN y varios proyectos secretos ejecutar durante la guerra."

"_But what would he want with that kind of information? Unless he wants to...oh god, no. Where's the next comm array?"_

"Umm, a few kilometers north of here," Carolina answered. "Why?"

(**)

With his new uniform, infiltrating the comm facility was easy. However, everybody knew about what had happened at the other facility, so now they were extra cautious. Trying to access the array would have attracted their suspicion. But he couldn't wait too long, or else the others would catch up with him. He wouldn't be so worried if it weren't for Carolina and Epsilon. Without them, the others wouldn't even have survived the last night.

Anyway, he had to find a way to the array without the others noticing. That's when he got an idea.

(**)

The security office was quiet. Three men were sitting at the monitors while two soldiers watched the door.

"Hey," one spoke up.

"Yeah?" the other replied.

"You ever wonder why we're..." he started, but was interrupted by Simmons entering. "Hey, you can't come in here without clearance."

Without saying a word, Simmons hammered his fist into the soldier's throat, breaking his neck. He then pulled the man's pistol out of it's holster and quickly shot the other four men dead. He then locked the door behind him and logged into one of the consoles. "Let's see, a little hacking here, a little overriding there and...voila. A simple security system malfunction." He turned to another screen to see various halls and rooms in the facility filling up with nerve gas, killing everybody inside.

After a few moments, he vented the gas, making the halls safe again. He exited the office and made his way to the array.

(**)

Carolina raced across the landscape on her motorcycle with the Reds right behind her in their jeep.

"How far, Epsilon?"

"_Not much further. But we should still hurry it up. Every moment counts."_

"You don't have to tell me twice," she said, speeding up.

(**)

Simmons walked up to the console and logged on. After a few moments, Commander Duke appeared on another screen.

"_Simmons, good to see you again, lad."_

"It's good seeing you, too, sir."

"_So, I'm guessing we're ready?"_

"Absolutely, sir."

"_Excellent,"_ he then turned to someone off-screen. _"Start the broadcast."_

(**)

Simmons had sat down and was currently waiting for Duke to give him further orders, when someone else entered the room. "So, you caught up to me."

"What is the meaning of this, Simmons?" Sarge asked. "Why are you trying to sabotage the UNSC?"

"I'm sure Carolina can answer that."

The Reds turned to her. "He's an Insurrectionist," she stated.

There was a moment of silence. "A what?"

"A rebel. Some human colonies don't want to take orders from the UNSC, so they formed rebel armies, which joined together to form the Insurrection. And now they are in possession of the most atrocious secrets of the UNSC."

"Which are currently being broadcasted throughout the galaxy. What will the people think?"

"_That's your great scheme?"_ Epsilon asked. _"Broadcasting a few things in hopes of the people rising up against the UNSC?"_

"You obviously don't understand the nature of this information. If you were a parent and suddenly heard that the UNSC kidnaps children and replaces them with dying clones? Every parent that ever lost their child would become suspicious. Everybody would be suspicious."

"The government did those things to ensure humanity's survival," Carolina argued.

"Yes, war is atrocity committed in the name of survival," Simmons replied. " That's what my commander always says. "But the SPARTAN program was started to fight _us_, the Insurrection, humans who weren't a threat to the survival of our species. And the war is over. What they did is no longer a deed for the greater good, but a crime. A crime they have to take responsibility for. Think about it, Carolina. Everything you've been through. The things your _father_ put you, and so many others through. Does it actually make you feel better that he "did it for humanity's survival"?"

Carolina thought about that. She really wanted to say yes, but couldn't. She just couldn't. Instead, she jumped forward and threw a punch at him. He pushed himself backwards, falling to the ground with his chair and rolling backwards onto his feet. He then tried to kick Carolina, but she ducked under it and threw another punch at him. He blocked and punched her in the face and tried to knee her in the gut, but she caught his leg and flipped him over.

As the two continued their fight, the Reds stood and watched. "Err, shouldn't we do something?" Sarge asked.

"Why? They seem to be doing fine."

"But what if Simmons wins. The UNSC would be defeated. We would be defeated."

"We didn't even know of the UNSC until a few months ago."

"Yeah, but still. Lopez, what do you think?"

"Mata al traidor!" (Kill the traitor!)

"This isn't the right time for jokes, Lopez."

"Por qué te preguntan si no me puedes entender?" (Why do you even ask if you can't understand me?)

"Hehe, okay, that one was pretty good. But still, we need to do something."

That's when Carolina was thrown to the ground and Simmons pointed a pistol at her. The Reds then pointed their weapons at him.

"Stand down, Simmons!" Sarge ordered.

Simmons looked at him for a moment, then threw his pistol at him. As Sarge tried to catch it, Simmons jumped forward and knocked him down. Grif tried to shoot him with the brute shot, but Simmons kicked it upwards, making it fire at the ceiling. He then kicked Grif in the crotch and turned to Lopez. Lopez had aimed his battle rifle, but Simmons knocked it out of his hands. Instead, Lopez threw a punch, which Simmons caught.

Lopez stared at his fist, wondering why Simmons was capable of holding a robotic arm back, just then remembering that Simmons was a cyborg. Simmons pushed Lopez back and shot him in the limbs, disabling them. He then looked at the others, who were trying to get up. "Do yourselves a favor and stay down," he said, picking up his pistol and aiming it at them.

A swishing sound could be heard and his arm fell to the ground. He looked behind him to see Tucker holding his sword and Wash aiming his rifle at Simmons.

"_Oh good. You guys made it,"_ Epsilon exclaimed.

"Church. It is so good to see you. I missed you so much. Did you miss me, too?" Caboose asked.

"_Yeah, I actually did."_

"I knew it."

"Focus, Caboose," Wash said. "So, it's true. You're an Insurrectionist."

"Yeah," Simmons answered.

"...That's it. You betray us after everything we've been through and this is all we get? So, all of it just meant nothing to you?"

"Don't try to oversimplify things, Agent Washington. You're good guys. And I do consider you my friends. But none of it ever changed the way I feel about the UNSC. Believe me. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I was doing the right thing."

"Then you'll understand that I have to do what I think is right," Wash said, ready to pull the trigger.

"Don't you dare," a female voice spoke up from behind them. The three Blues turned around to see Snyder, West and Roberts standing behind them, Snyder holding two pistols, West holding one and Roberts holding a shotgun. "Drop your weapons!" The three did and then walked over to the others. "Alright, now then..." she said as they aimed their weapons at the group.

"No," Simmons said, stepping in the way.

"What are you doing?" Snyder asked. "You're siding with the enemy?"

"They're not the enemy, Angie. They can't stop us anymore. We've won. Please, just let them be."

Snyder pondered that for a moment, then sighed, putting down her guns. "Fine, Dick. You got it. Let's just get out of here."

"One moment," Simmons said, turning to the others. "I just want you guys to know that I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to see this. You were supposed to by in the canyon, unknowing of the plan. I can't change what has happened, I can only tell you this: go back to the canyon and forget about me."

With that, he and the other Insurrectionists left.


	8. Chapter 8

**Under the Maroon**

**Disclaimer: The RvB cast belong to RoosterTeeth. I own Commander Duke and General Vincent.**

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Hope to get the next one up quicker.**

_Dear Commander, _

_the broadcast was a complete success. The public is asking a lot of questions and pretty much every department of the UNSC is under investigation. Autonomy is within our grasp. You should also be pleased to hear that the discontinuation of the SPARTAN program has been announced. Unfortunately, the UNSC wouldn't disclose the location of Dr Halsey. Fortunately, however, our reconnaissance teams discovered the crew list for the "Golden Autumn", which recently departed Earth and apparently had Dr Halsey and various SPARTANs on board. They also discovered its destination and I am forwarding the coordinates to you now. We cannot allow her to continue her work. We're counting on you Commander._

_Good luck._

(**)

Simmons stared at the memorial wall. Commander Duke had it set up back when the Freelancers invaded their base. His eyes scanned the pictures that plastered the wall in front of him and came to a halt on one. Frowney, cleaning her turret with her helmet off. Her ebony hair tied to a bun, her pale skin shimmering, her eyes glistening with silent glee as they stared down upon the tool she wielded with such ease you would think it weighed nothing. He slowly raised his right hand up to the picture and gently ran his fingers across it. He then let it drop back to his side and looked down. He had been provided his old set of armor after a warm welcome from Commander Duke upon arriving on the Charon. He had been a little disappointed that they hadn't killed the Freelancers, but didn't really care. Right now, he was focused and hell-bent on getting to Dr Halsey. Simmons didn't like it. There was something disturbingly familiar in Duke's obsession with Halsey.

"_Simmons,"_ Snyder called over the radio.

"Yeah?"

"_Get to the command center! We're having a briefing on the mission."_

(**)

"Hustle, lassies! I ain't got all day!" Duke barked as Simmons and his team entered the command center. Suddenly, Simmons perked up.

"Sir, do we have someone on the line?"

"General Vincent is currently listening from his ship. How did you know?"

"I'm a cyborg. My sensors picked up on it."

"I see. Wait, what? You're a cyborg? Since when?"

"Oh, for a while now. Sarge decided a cyborg would give Red team an advantage and volunteered me for the part. Sure, I had my objections, but the perks are quite satisfactory."

"...Moving on. Halsey was recently taken to a small planet somewhere on the outer rim. Place is crawling with UNSC vermin, so the "Charging Unicorn" will help us with the pest control."

"_**Correct,**__" came Vincent's deep, booming voice over the intercom, "__**the Unicorn will punch a hole for the Charon to slip through and reach the planet.**__"_

"Then we will initiate bombardment. The main facility is heavily fortified, but the bombardment will take care of anyone outside. Then our boys will land and enter the facility."

"_**Once the Unicorn has taken care of the UNSC ships, our forces will join you.**"_

West raised his hand. "Yes, West?" Duke asked.

"There are four ships in orbit of the planet. How can you be so sure that the Unicorn can handle them?"

"_**The Unicorn is the strongest ship the Insurrection has to offer. Thick armor, tough shields and a head-cannon capable of taking down any ship in one hit. Though it does take some time to charge.**"_

"Ten minutes." Duke stated. "And the energy drain is so strong that it deactivates the drive core. The ship can't move for a minute."

"_**A setback, yes. But our shields aren't affected due to their separate generator. Don't worry, the Unicorn has proven herself against far worse odds.**"_

"Alright, we all know the main objective. Halsey. I won't leave that place until I have her head on a silver platter. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the team replied in unison.

"Ready, General?"

"_**Ready, Commander. See you on the other side."**_

(**)

"So... What do we do now?" Wash asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Carolina asked. "We can't let them win."

"But they already have. The Insurrection is practically autonomous and already hounding in on Halsey. There's nothing we can do."

"Come on, Wash. I'm sure we could take on a few hundred Insurrection thugs."

"Even so, we could never get there in time."

"Well," Sarge interrupted, "that's not exactly accurate."

They all looked at him. "Is there something you wanna tell us, Sarge?" Wash asked.

(**)

The Freelancer symbol appeared on the screen as Sarge stepped in front of it. The screen was built into the mountain the group currently stood in front of. _"I am sorry, but this area is off limits to unauthorized people."_

"Open the door, F.I.L.L.S.," Sarge said," it's me."

"_Apologies, Agent Alabama, I didn't recognize you. Welcome." _A secret door opened next to the screen.

"Agent Alabama?" Wash exclaimed, "How did you get her to believe you were a Freelancer?"

"I am." Sarge answered as he entered.

"Right, and you were put in charge of Red team because..."

"F.I.L.L.S.!"

"_Agent Alabama was put in charge of observing the activities in Bloodgulch and ensuring the safety of the Alpha A.I."_

"So...he really is a...but he..." Wash rambled on as he tried to comprehend this new information.

"And this place is...?" Carolina interrupted.

"My secret stash." Sarge answered as he opened a door and turned on the lights, revealing a large hangar. The wall on the left decorated with a large collection of weapons and what looked like a modified pelican. "Give me a moment to check the systems."

Wash looked back at the others. "Why aren't you guys saying anything?"

They just looked at each other. "Yeah, I know you're new to this," Grif answered, "but at this point, it's pretty hard to surprise us. I thought you Freelancers would also be used to this."

"_He has a point." _Church spoke up.

"Yeah, but still..."

While they continued to argue, Carolina took a look around. There was a small workbench on the right side of the room. Scrap covered what appeared to be a splice between a shotgun and a grenade launcher. She picked it up to inspect it. It was quite impressive, so she wondered. "Why didn't you take this to Bloodgulch?"

Sarge took a look from the cockpit. "Oh, that. It may look alright on the outside, but that old girl is pretty much non-functional. Trying to fire her would be too risky."

"I see." She wanted to put it back, but then noticed what it had been laying on top of. "The twins?" It was a picture of North and South, standing next to each other without their helmets and with North's left arm around South's shoulders. She wanted to ask Sarge about this, but had a feeling that it wasn't such a good idea. "F.I.L.L.S., what was Sarge's, I mean, Agent Alabama's relationship to Agents North and South Dakota?"

"_I am sorry, Agent Carolina, but that's classified information. Only Agent Alabama and the Director are authorized to access it."_

"_Give her the information, F.I.L.L.S.!" _Church ordered.

"_Oh, Director, I didn't realize you were also present. Of course. Agent Alabama is Agent North Dakota's and Agent South Dakota's father."_

Carolina and Church looked at each other. "Right, let's just keep that to ourselves."

"_Fair enough."_

"Alright, ladies," Sarge spoke through the pelican's speakers. "All systems go. Ready to take off."

They then entered pelican. "And where exactly are we going?" Wash asked. "We don't know where they're going."

"Right. A short while ago I did a little operation on him and turned him into a cyborg."

"...Why?!"

"I don't know. I guess I just got bored. Anyway, I built a tracker into him in case he ever got captured."

"But you were fighting Blue team. And there base was just across the canyon."

"I prepared for any possibility."

"Enough!" Carolina interrupted. "Where the hell are they?"

"Apparently, they're headed for a UNSC colony in the outer rim."

"And how are we supposed to get there in time?"

"This pelican has slipspace capability, though highly experimental. Using it will lead to one of two possibilities. One, we arrive there unscathed."

"And the second?"

"We'll be destroyed in pretty much every possible way."

"_Recuérdame por qué estamos haciendo esto." _(Remind me why we are doing this.)

"Because we are soldiers of the UNSC and we cannot allow them to take one of our best scientists, even if she's considered a criminal."

"_¿Me entiende?" _(You understood me?)

"Yes, I speak Spanish among other languages."

"_Entonces ¿por qué fingir que no pudo?" _(Then why did you pretend you couldn't?)

"I didn't wanna seem too intelligent as to not blow my cover. Plus, I loved to mess with you."

"Sarge," Carolina interrupted, "you said they were after a scientist. Who?"

"Halsey. The woman in charge of the SPARTAN-project. She was declared a war criminal after the truth about the project became public. Now the Insurrection has sicked it's hounds on her."

"And we want to save her why?" Grif asked.

"The UNSC is currently weakened. We're struggling to keep order. Halsey's trial may determine the fate of the UNSC. But if the Insurrection gets to her before that, there will be an uproar. The people will completely lose their trust in the UNSC. And if they learn that might makes right, there will be rioting in the streets and blood will flow. The UNSC will fall to pieces and the Insurrection will win. But I won't force you to do anything. If you don't want to go, I understand and I won't stop you."

"...Ah, screw it!" Wash exclaimed. "I should have died a long time ago. What difference does it make now? I'm in."

"Well, if the UNSC were to dissolve now, then all the work I've done with Junior would've been for nothing," Tucker stated. "I'm in."

"I missed my chance to leave long ago," Grif spoke up. "I can't quit now, unfortunately."

"Yes, I will help Church and become his best friend!" Caboose exclaimed excitedly.

"_Todos ustedes van a morir. No puedo perder."_ (You are all going to die. I can't miss that.)

Sarge nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright, we're all in. Then let's get moving." With that, he sat down in the pilot's seat and turned on the pelican. "Open hangar doors, F.I.L.L.S.!"

"_Affirmative."_

The pelican ascended as the hangar doors opened. "Everybody strapped in?"

"Yes!" They called in unison.

"Alright then. Here we go. Activating slipspace." The slipspace portal opened and the pelican flew in before it disappeared.

(**)

"We're about to leave slipspace," Simmons said.

"Excellent. General Vincent, are you ready?"

"_**Affirmative, let's gut the bastards.**"_

"Alright." The two ships exited slipspace directly in front of the UNSC ships. "FIRE!"


End file.
